We headed out after a last minute mad dash to pack what we think we will need in the coming year. For those of you who know how much I like to be prepared, this was a little overboard (even I will admit that). I have my big Breville food processor, my Instantpot, my air fryer, sewing machine with embroidery module, to name a few things. I know how I need to prepare food so I packed what I thought was neccessary. People kept saying, “Just buy what you need when you arrive!” But for those of you who know the value of our Canadian dollar, I just can’t bring myself to buy it in New York. Our SUV looks like it’s loaded for bear!

Erik & I stopped in Calgary for a short visit with our daughter and to see her three children. What a joy to spend a few minutes with those toddlers & baby. We then carried on to Lethbridge to see our son and his family. I am known as Grandma Cheryl by my two year old grandson. We went to church in the snow in Lethbridge and watched it fall all day, hoping that the roads were going to be passable the next day. Jasmin & I attended the world wide Relief Society broadcast which was a celebration of the anniversary of our dear Relief Society. It was spectacular!

Monday morning brought us a stoppage of snow so we loaded and decided to try our luck. The day started ominously with heavy fog. The roads were wet and slushy for a while but then the slush was melting as the sun was trying to burn through the fog. Within an hour we arrived at the border. It was less than 15 minutes processing time to process our visa and permit us to enter the USA for a year. Our goal for the day was to get to Billings, Montana. I’ve decided to call Montana the “Black Cow State”. All the herds were black cattle. It was fascinating!

From Great Falls, we took the I-87 to pass by Geyser, Stanford, Moccasin & Hobson. While I am passing through remote looking areas I always wonder, “What brought these people here? What do they do for a living? How many generations have lived here?” It’s very pretty countryside through the mountains. We came to the Little Belt Mountains and that was fascinating too.

As we turned south onto the I-191, we entered the Judith Basin. It’s a huge basin for growing crops and cattle, surrounded by mountains. We stopped to refuel in Judith Gap. Of course, I needed to know how these people settled here. We met a lovely couple who run a mom & pop service station and mechanical repair. Jeff tells me that his dad started the business and recently retired so Jeff & his wife purchased the station from him. It might have been the cleanest station I have ever stopped in. They told me that they usually don’t get a lot of snow (except for this year) but they get a lot of wind. The wind whistles through the gap at quite the velocity. This is an historic town situated in the small gap between the Little Belt Mountains and the Big Snowy Mountains. The gap was used by settlers and Native Americans for centuries, including Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce during their famous flight to Canada in 1877. The railroad brought many people there to settle and in 2005 they had a bit of a boom because of a major wind farm being constructed. Ask questions and you can find out a lot of information.

We carried on to Harlowton and turned east for a spell. Then at Lavina, we turned south to Billings on the I-3. Billings is situated on the Yellowstone River. As we drove in we were driving along the rimrocks which gave a spectacular view of the city. They are sandstone cliffs along the north side of the city. Pausing at a viewing spot across from the airport, we were able to enjoy quite the vista.

We plugged in the address to the Billings temple and went to see it. On Mondays, temples are closed for cleaning, but we took photos and Erik got an amazing shot of the sun behind the spire with angel Moroni. I messaged my friends (Elder & Sister Hanson) who live in Billings but are serving a mission in Oaxaca Mexico right now. I wanted them to know that we made it to their hometown.

The weather took a turn for the worse and blizzard conditions started on our route for the next day. The highway was closed due the conditions so we opted to spend another night in Billings. It gave us the opportunity to go to the temple and preform some work for our ancestors. I may have met the nicest ladies in that temple. They had true characters of disciples of Jesus Christ; full of love and kindness. The temple is now 26 years old. It is absolutely stunning! The layout is all on one floor (no stairs or escalators needed). What a wonderful stop over this turned out to be!

Of course, I met people in businesses and helped people with their shopping, always asking about their lives. I had cooking discussions in the grocery store with a couple of people. One of the things I love is seeing the cultural makeup of areas. The Native Americans here are from the Crow Nation and there is a reservation towards Cheyenne. This is where the Little Bighorn Battlefield is. It’s so wonderful to be in historic areas and feel the energy of the past. This is also known as Custer’s Last Stand. Lots of controversy with that subject.

Erik is always checking the weather reports and it didn’t look good to head to Cheyenne. We considered going northern routes through the Dakotas. But in the morning we decided to go south after all. The roads were great, only wet in some places and a little hard packed snow just south of Sheridan. I prayed for sunshine to follow us throughout the day and we were blessed with that gift.

Alas, another storm system has the highway closed (I-80) going to Nebraska. The semi trucks are stacked up here everywhere waiting for the road to open. Hopefully the morning will bring sunshine and the highway will be open.